THAILAND: A popular Thai YouTube personality who once amassed over 800,000 followers has been arrested in Indonesia after evading authorities for two years.
Natthamon Khongchak, 31, also known by her online alias “Nutty,” was detained on Oct 18 and extradited to Thailand on Oct 25 along with her mother, Thaniya, to face charges related to a $59 million fraud scheme.
The chase ends
In a report from CNA, Khongchak’s escape came to an end in a surprising twist when authorities in Indonesia caught her attempting to blend in as a local.
The former influencer, who had been on the run since 2022, was asked to sing Indonesia’s national anthem in front of immigration officials.
Her failure to perform the anthem correctly led to her identification, blowing her cover and revealing her true identity.
The mother-daughter duo is now under investigation by Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) for defrauding over 6,000 victims out of nearly 2 billion baht (around $59 million).
The scam, centring around a fraudulent forex investment scheme, promised high returns to followers on Khongchak’s YouTube and Instagram platforms, where she had built a reputation as a flashy, successful entrepreneur.
Singer-dancer turned investor-scammer
Khongchak, who had initially gained fame for singing and dancing to K-pop hits, rebranded herself in 2022 as an investor, luring fans into her forex scheme by guaranteeing returns of up to 35% over the course of a year.
However, when these promised payouts failed to materialize, she claimed a trading error had caused the losses, urging victims not to report her to authorities.
As complaints mounted, Khongchak, her mother, and their secretary, Nichaphat Rattanukrom, fled Thailand in July 2022.
The trio crossed into Malaysia before illegally entering Indonesia by sea, hoping to escape multiple arrest warrants issued by Thai police.
In her bid to secure an Indonesian passport, Khongchak’s accent raised suspicion, leading to the test that ultimately exposed her.
K-pop idol no more
While Khongchak and her mother have been arrested, Rattanukrom remains on the run.
Thai authorities have seized assets worth approximately 16 million baht (around $470,000) and are continuing their efforts to trace the stolen funds.
Khongchak, who once dreamt of becoming a K-pop idol and was briefly affiliated with the South Korean label Dream Cinema in 2015, gained further notoriety for boasting about her extravagant lifestyle on Thai TV, where she claimed to own 14 cars and employ 22 nannies.
Now, she faces the stark reality of being caught in a global chase for justice.